Tag Archives: marjoram

Fresh Pasta

Reginette with Pine Nut & Marjoram Pesto

One of our favorite summer dishes is fresh pasta (either round corzetti or the long, curly ribbons known as reginette, pictured here) tossed with a highly fragrant pine nut pesto. We look forward to this Ligurian specialty in the cold of winter, when fresh marjoram is not an option, and make it almost weekly when the marjoram on our deck starts to grow in. For a lighter (but no less delicious) version of the sauce, you can omit the heavy cream and double the milk, as we often do at home.

This recipe is adapted from my latest cookbook, The Best Pasta Sauces.

Serves 2

For the pesto:

  • 3 tablespoons marjoram leaves
  • 1 plump garlic clove, peeled
  • ½ cup pine nuts
  • ¼ cup whole milk, plus extra as needed
  • ¼ cup heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano

For the reginette:

  • 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup semolina flour, plus extra for dusting
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs

To cook:

  • 2 tablespoons salt

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Make the pesto: Combine all the ingredients except the Parmigiano in a food processor and process until smooth. Place in a bowl large enough to accommodate the pasta later, and stir in the Parmigiano. If the sauce seems too thick, dilute with additional milk; the pesto should have the texture of heavy cream, but it won’t be perfectly smooth due to the nuts.

(The pesto keeps in the refrigerator up to 1 week as long as it is topped with a thin layer of olive oil; it can also be frozen for up to 1 month if the Parmigiano has not been stirred in.)

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Make the reginette: Mix the flour, semolina flour, and salt on a counter and shape into a mound. Make a well in the center and add the eggs to the well. Using your fingertips, work the flour into the eggs, then gather into a dough and knead by hand; add a little water if the dough is too dry or a little flour if it is too moist. Knead for 10 minutes, or until smooth, then shape into a ball, wrap in plastic, and let rest 30 minutes.

Cut the pasta dough into 4 pieces. Working with 1 piece at a time and keeping the others covered, roll out each piece using a pasta machine into a thin sheet. Sprinkle each sheet generously with semolina flour and roll up loosely jelly roll-style. Cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips with curly edges using a reginette attachment. Toss with semolina flour to prevent sticking. Spread out in a single layer on a few semolina-dusted trays. (If you don’t have a reginette attachment, you can order one from Fantes or simply cut into tagliatelle or pappardelle, or whatever shape you fancy.)

To cook: Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil. Add the salt and the reginette and cook until al dente; drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Stir 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water into the pesto in the serving bowl. Add the drained pasta, and stir to coat. Adjust the salt if necessary and stir in additional reserved pasta cooking water if the sauce seems too thick to properly coat the pasta. Serve hot.

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Vegetables

Silky Squash Blossoms with Pine Nuts, Garlic, & Marjoram

The season for squash blossoms is almost over: we may have another few days or so to enjoy these colorful flowers. In Italy, squash blossoms are often deep-fried, sometimes stuffed with fresh cheese and anchovies, enrobed in a light batter before they crisp to golden perfection in hot olive oil. But they are also stirred into pasta sauces, added to frittate, dragged in a hot pan with aromatics as a side dish, or baked under a dusting of grated Parmigiano. I love squash blossoms every which way; their delicate floral sweetness is haunting, the romance of eating a flower only part of the pleasure.

Here is the way I prepared squash blossoms last week, after a trip to a nearby farmer’s market. We grow marjoram on our deck, but basil or parsley would be equally delicious if marjoram is hard to find. To stretch the pleasure, serve the blossoms with fresh tagliatelle you’ve boiled and tossed with olive oil and grated Parmigiano: delicious.

One word of advice: squash blossoms are very delicate, so buy them the day you plan to cook them.

Serves 2

  • 16 squash blossoms
  • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tablespoon pine nuts
  • 1 teaspoon fresh marjoram leaves
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Rinse the blossoms thoroughly under a thin, light spray of cool water, gently opening out the leaves and running your fingers inside each blossom to remove any small insects.

Using your fingers, remove the hard long stem inside each blossom. It is bitter and must be removed.

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Remove the thin thorn-like filaments running up from the bottom of each blossom, just above where the stem ends.

Cut off the stem at the bottom of each blossom, just where it meets the bud (be careful not to cut it too high or you will make a hole in the base of the blossom).

Blot the blossoms dry on paper towels.

Place the olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, and marjoram in a 12-inch skillet. Set over medium heat and cook until the aroma begins to rise, about 2 minutes, watching that the pine nuts do not burn and stirring as needed.

Raise the heat under the skillet to high. Add the blossoms and cook 3 minutes, or until they wilt to a soft, tangled mass and any liquid has evaporated. Season with the salt and pepper, taste for seasoning, and serve hot.

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Main Course: Vegetarian

Ricotta-Quinoa Cakes with Summery Tomato-Corn Salsa

I don’t eat quinoa because it is healthy.   I eat it because I like it, and because it is versatile, and has a fun, popping texture. The fact that it is healthy is a plus. I would never eat something that was good for me if I didn’t truly enjoy it; I think most good food is healthy anyway, and becomes even better for you if you draw pleasure from eating it.

I usually start off any quinoa recipe by rinsing my quinoa thoroughly to get rid of the bitter saponins that coat it (I prefer the red for its nuttier taste, my husband the white for its lighter flavor) . Then I drain it, plop it in a saucepan with double the amount of water, throw in a  crushed garlic clove, a bay leaf, a sprinkle of salt, and a bit of freshly ground black pepper. When the water comes to a boil, I cover the pan and simmer the quinoa until the grains are swollen and all the water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Then the quinoa can be eaten hot, instead of rice or potatoes or any other starch; cooled and transformed into a salad with bits of feta cheese, diced tomatoes, charred peppers, and olive oil; flavored with plenty of herbs and folded into lettuce leaves for a refreshing bite; or bound with a bit of egg as below and pan-fried into delectable little cakes, so good with a fresh salsa of summer corn and ripe tomatoes.

Since I especially love quinoa with peas (they add such a sweet note and vibrant color), I often add about 1 cup of thawed petite peas to the quinoa in the last 3 minutes of simmering, as I did for the recipe below. The recipe here yields enough quinoa for several dishes; you only need one-quarter of the total amount for the quinoa cakes, so experiment with the rest.

Try swapping these quinoa cakes for the meat patties in your burgers at your next barbecue. I think even the carnivores would enjoy them; my husband did!

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer

For the quinoa:

  • 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed several times and drained
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 crushed garlic clove
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra if needed
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup thawed petite peas

For the cakes:

  • one-quarter of the cooked quinoa (see above)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/3 cup fresh whole-milk Ricotta
  • 1 teaspoon minced marjoram, mint, or sage (I prefer marjoram)
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the salsa:

  • 1 ear fresh corn, shucked, silk removed
  • 1 ripe tomato, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
  • 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, plus extra to taste
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

To cook and serve:

  • 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Make the quinoa: Place the rinsed and drained quinoa, the water, bay leaf, garlic, salt, and pepper in a 1-quart pot. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat to simmer, and cook 15 minutes, then add the peas and cover again. Cook another 3 minutes, or until the quinoa is tender and the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat and keep covered for 10 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and adjust the salt if needed.

Transfer one-quarter of the cooked quinoa to a bowl. Reserve the rest for another use (see introductory notes for additional ideas).

Make the cakes: Add the egg, Ricotta, marjoram, salt, and pepper to the measured quinoa. Stir well.

Make the salsa: Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Drop in the corn. Cook 3 minutes, then drain, cool, and cut the kernels off the cob. Toss with the tomato, salt, and pepper, and taste for seasoning; adjust as needed.

Cook the cakes: Warm a 10-inch non-stick skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes, or until hot but not smoking. Brush with 2 teaspoons of the olive oil.

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Divide the quinoa cake mixture into 4 equal parts and drop into the hot skillet, shaping it into 4 even pancakes. Cook 3 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom and starting to set on the top. Brush the tops with the remaining 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.

Place on a platter. Sprinkle with the salt. Serve hot, topped with the salsa.

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